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Germany Bundesliga

The Bundesliga Table Begins to Take Shape as Bayern Goes Top

Samrin Hasib, August 30 2011,
The table in Germany has a familiar feeling about it. FC Bayern sits atop the standings with Schalke and Werder Bremen behind them respectively.
Mario Goetze sees red.
Mario Goetze sees red.
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Related Articles: Bayern, Leverkusen, Dortmund, Schalke, Wolfsburg
Leverkusen hosted the big spectacle of the weekend. Borussia Dortmund was the visitors. Despite the match finishing at 0-0, the match was highly entertaining and filled with controversial decisions.

Bayern, meanwhile, completely dominated Kaiserslautern. They needed two penalties to break FCK down. However, their defence as has become the norm these days had little to do. A Mario Gomez hat-trick saw them top the table on nine points.

Bremen managed to beat Hoffenheim while Schalke beat Gladbach. Interestingly enough, Hertha Berlin recorded a first home victory in the Bundesliga in a long time over Stuttgart, 1-0.

Leverkusen dominated the match against Dortmund up to the moment when Michal Kadlec saw red for a bad tackle on Mario Goetze. Leverkusen survived the wave of Dortmund attacks following this incident thanks to the inspired form of their goalkeeper Bernd Leno. Leno was brought on loan from Stuttgart due to Rene Adler’s injury.

Mario Goetze was sent off shortly afterwards. Goetze did not really tackle anyone. Wolfgang Starck, the referee for the match, saw Goetze raise his leg towards Hanno Balitsch. He took the gesture as one of genuine attempt to hit a player of the opposition out of frustration and showed the Dortmund youngster a red card.

Mats Hummels, funnily enough, escaped a red card earlier in the match when he fouled Renato Augusto at the edge of the box following a mazy run by Leverkusen’s wizard. According to Starck, Hummels should not have stayed on the pitch.

Dortmund seems to miss Nuri Sahin and the injured Lucas Barrios. They played fairly well but Dortmund is capable of playing even better. Leverkusen seems to be coping well with the loss of Arturo Vidal. Lars Bender, Dortmund’s Sven Bender’s twin seems to have settled in at that position.

In a league filled with brilliant keepers, Jaroslav Drobny has looked slightly out of depth this season. Hamburg has been conceding more and more goals all season long and already seems to be a relegation candidate.

They were about to win their match against Köln, 3-2, but somehow let it all slip away. Two errors from Drobny following the 80th minute saw Hamburg lose in what has been their best performance of the season, 3-4. May be Frank Arnesen needs to stop recruiting more Chelsea youngsters or may be, he needs to get a keeper from Chelsea’s reserves.

Mönchengladbach’s dream start to the season was halted by Schalke. Ralf Rangnick’s rejuvenated side kept on attacking the Foals throughout ninety minutes of play. Eventually Raul found the net following two bites at the cherry. Schalke’s former manager Felix Magath has seemingly lost his mind.

Player after player is coming into Wolfsburg. Thomas Hitzlsperger and Sotirios Krygiakos are two recent additions. Rumours are going about that Michael Ballack might also transfer to the club. Wolfsburg, meanwhile, is fifteenth in the table with just one win and three defeats in four matches.

The Bundesliga takes a break for two weeks before returning on the ninth of September. A derby awaits us on the next Bundesliga weekend as Werder takes on Hamburg.

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